Measures Problem-solving and Review

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1 Getting Started
2 Watch and Notice
3 Try It Together
4 Work a Full Problem in Your Copy
5 Class Challenge
Pupil practice

1 - Getting Started ~5 mins

Illustration for Getting Started Imagine we're designing a fish tank for the classroom. Before we buy anything, we need to know a few different things about it.

Which of these do you think we'd have to measure: how much metal to make the frame around the top, how much glass to cover the sides, or how many litres of water it will hold?

Teacher Notes

Take three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. The point is for the class to realise the answer is all three — one design needs several different measures. Don't resolve it yet; that's what the lesson does.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Watch and Notice ~10 mins

Watch one design problem worked right through. We use several kinds of measure, and we choose the unit to match what we measured, watching for squared units on a surface and cubed units on a solid.

A tank design, measure by measure

Teacher Notes

Work the tank live on the board, one measure at a time. Hold out for the unit name before you write it: squared for a surface, cubed for a solid.

Tank: 50 cm long, 30 cm wide, 40 cm tall.

1. Frame (perimeter of top): 2 × (50 + 30) = 2 × 80 = 160 cm.

2. Glass (four sides): two long faces each 50 × 40 = 2,000 cm², so 4,000 cm²; two short faces each 30 × 40 = 1,200 cm², so 2,400 cm²; total glass = 6,400 cm². Slip to watch: pupils writing cm instead of cm².

3. Water (volume then capacity): 50 × 30 × 40 = 60,000 cm³. Convert: 60,000 ÷ 1,000 = 60 litres.

4. Gravel (mass): four bags of 2,500 g each = 10,000 g. Ask is 10,000 g a sensible way to write it? before dividing: 10,000 ÷ 1,000 = 10 kg.

Pause after the volume step and have the class name every unit used so far, so the g-to-kg conversion lands with full attention.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Try It Together ~9 mins

Together we design a small storage box and work out three things about it, in this order: the length of tape to seal every edge of the base, the area of card for the four sides, and the volume it holds. Our box is 20 cm long, 10 cm wide and 15 cm tall.

For the four sides, split them the way we did with the tank: two big faces are each 20 cm × 15 cm, and two small faces are each 10 cm × 15 cm. Double each area, then add.

I'll put the box in the measuring tool on screen, read the volume it shows, then check each measure by hand. Your job is to work out each measure by hand at your desk, ready to say the answer aloud, so the class can agree or correct before it goes on the board.

Storage box: 20 × 10 × 15 cm

Teacher Notes

Try Together — you drive the tool on the board and the class works each measure by hand, agreeing or correcting out loud.

Have the class work the volume by hand first: 20 × 10 × 15. Then drive the measuring tool to the box dimensions and read the volume it shows (3,000 cm³) to confirm. Check the on-screen labels read 20 long, 10 wide, 15 tall so the by-hand check lines up. Watch for pupils writing cm instead of cm² for the card area — two lengths multiplied means squared. Ask the class to name the unit at each step before it goes on the board.

+15 XP

4 - Work a Full Problem in Your Copy ~8 mins

COPYBOOK MOMENT

Before you open your copy, we will fix one conversion on the board together. Our last box held 3,000 cm³. Because 1 litre is the same as 1,000 cm³, we divide the volume by 1,000 to get litres: 3,000 ÷ 1,000 = 3 litres.

Now in your maths copy, complete one full multi-measure problem. Do all four of these:

Sketch the container
Label the length, width and height on your sketch
Show each calculation with its formula
Write each final answer with the correct unit

Use this container: a box 25 cm long, 20 cm wide and 10 cm tall. Find the tape around the base, the area of the base, and the volume it holds in litres. For the litres step, use the same divide-by-1,000 move we just practised.

Teacher Notes

Board demo first (1 min): write 1 litre = 1,000 cm³, then 3,000 cm³ ÷ 1,000 = 3 litres. Hold for the class to say the unit before you write litres. Then release the copy task.

Walk the room glancing at the sketch, the labelled length, width and height, and the units on each answer, this is whole-class copybook practice, not marking. Watch the volume-to-litres step: 25 × 20 × 10 = 5,000 cm³, then 5,000 ÷ 1,000 = 5 litres. Slip to watch: dividing by 100 instead of 1,000, or leaving the answer in cm³. Give them time to sketch and label before the calculations, this is a fuller task than a quick jotting.

+10 XP

5 - Class Challenge ~9 mins

Today we crack a five-clue measures mystery. Each clue uses a different measure, and solving it unlocks the next: first a length, then an area, then a volume, then a capacity, and finally a mass.

Clue 1 (length): a shelf is 2.4 m long. Written in centimetres, how many cm is that?
Clue 2 (area): a poster is 40 cm by 30 cm. What is its area in cm²?
Clue 3 (volume): a box is 10 cm by 10 cm by 8 cm. What is its volume in cm³?
Clue 4 (capacity): a jug holds 3,000 cm³. How many litres is that?
Clue 5 (mass): four tins each weigh 250 g. What is the total mass in kilograms?

To crack the mystery code, take just the number from each answer, set its unit aside, and add the five numbers together. That total is the game code — it is not a real measurement, because you can't really add a length to an area to a mass. In this puzzle the units are dropped on purpose, just for the code.

Clue 1 (length): a shelf is 2.4 m long. How many cm is that?
Clue 2 (area): a poster is 40 cm by 30 cm. What is its area?
Clue 3 (volume): a box is 10 cm by 10 cm by 8 cm. What is its volume?
Clue 4 (capacity): a jug holds 3,000 cm³. How many litres is that?
Clue 5 (mass): four tins each weigh 250 g. What is the total mass in kilograms?

Answers & strategies (teacher)

Clue 1 (length): a shelf is 2.4 m long. How many cm is that? — 240 cm
Clue 2 (area): a poster is 40 cm by 30 cm. What is its area? — 1,200 cm²
Clue 3 (volume): a box is 10 cm by 10 cm by 8 cm. What is its volume? — 800 cm³
Clue 4 (capacity): a jug holds 3,000 cm³. How many litres is that? — 3 litres
Clue 5 (mass): four tins each weigh 250 g. What is the total mass in kilograms? — 1 kg

Teacher Notes

This is the practice round — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.

Answers in order: 240 cm; 1,200 cm²; 800 cm³; 3 litres; 1 kg. Be clear with the class that the code total is a game device only — each clue's real answer still wears its own unit, and we only drop them to make the code. The clues climb from a single conversion to a multiply-then-convert; press the class to name the measure and unit before each solve. The mystery code (240 + 1,200 + 800 + 3 + 1 = 2,244) is the reveal — stronger pupils can spot which clue contributed most.

+15 XP

Pupil practice

Module 5 · Measures: Length, Area, Volume, Mass and Capacity Measures

Lesson 59 · Measures Problem-solving and Review

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This lesson is copyright of Coding Ireland 2017 - 2025. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.

Teacher Class Feed

1 - Getting Started ~5 mins

2 - Watch and Notice ~10 mins

A tank design, measure by measure

3 - Try It Together ~9 mins

Storage box: 20 × 10 × 15 cm

4 - Work a Full Problem in Your Copy ~8 mins

5 - Class Challenge ~9 mins

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